Home is the Hart of the Holidays
by Mimi1239
Summary: Prequel to Seven Years in the Nineties. What happened a month and a half before Riley and Maya got transported to 1993? How did twelve-year-old Riley meet her godfather/uncle Shawn? Find out here! (This is for a Girl Meets World Wiki Fanfiction contest) Vote for me! Info on my profile. Entirely in Riley's POV. Continued after contest.
1. Where It All Began

Home is the Hart of the Holidays

**Hello, I've decided to enter the Girl Meets World Wiki Fanfiction contest! This is a prequel to my Seven Years in the Nineties story on Fanfiction so if you're interested in Riley and Maya time travelling to 1993 and meeting young Cory, Shawn, and Topanga, check it out! This will be based on what happened a month and a half before they got transported. Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Boy Meets World, or it's spin-off series Girl Meets World.**

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Summary: Prequel to Seven Years in the Nineties. What happened a month and a half before Riley and Maya got transported to 1993? How did twelve-year-old Riley meet her godfather/uncle Shawn? Find out here! (This is for a Girl Meets World Wiki Fanfiction contest) Vote for me! Info on my profile.

Riley's Point of View

_**Wednesday, December 24th, 2014, New York City**_

_**Present Day, 7:00 A.M**_

My eyes fluttered open that Christmas Eve morning. The strong smell of pancakes and coffee hit my nose immediately. I got up and walked over to my bay window. A thin white layer of snow on the ground was the first thing I saw when I poked my head out my bedroom window. _This Christmas was going to be different_, I thought to myself. I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

After I brushed my teeth, combed my hair, and put on the pink wool sweater my dad had given me on Christmas the year before with a black skirt, I skipped out of my room. As I did, I could hear my mom's panicky voice say to my dad from the kitchen, "Cory, where's the apple cider? We can't have Christmas without the apple cider!"

I walked into the kitchen just as my dad wrapped his arms around my mom and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Honey, Christmas isn't until tomorrow. And it's right here," he said picking up the rectangular-shaped box on top of the kitchen counter and handed it to my mom. "Are you alright? Is this all because my parents are coming over?"

This would be the first time we would be hosting Christmas at our house. My mom was pretty anxious and jumpy because she knew how judgement my grandmother Amy could be. I didn't blame my mom, so most of the time the whole family tried to stay out of her way as she prepared everything.

My mom smiled weakly. "Yes Cory. I know how important this is to your mother. I don't want to mess everything up."

I walked over to the family's Christmas tree and helped my little brother Auggie hang up the decorations he couldn't reach. I pulled out an ornament from the tree's branch which had a picture of my dad as a teenager and another kid (my dad's best friend) Shawn. Underneath the picture it read, 'Cory and Shawn 4Eva'. I raised my eyebrow questionably at my dad as he walked over to help. "What's this?" I asked.

"Oh, this?" My dad chuckled nervously taking the ornament from my finger tips. "This is my best friend Riley. You're going to meet him tomorrow." Yes, apparently the legendary 'Shawn Hunter' was going to visit tomorrow for the first time. Along with my grandparents, Uncle Josh, my Aunt Morgan, and my parents' former teacher/mentor Mr. Feeny.

"How come he's never visit if he's your best friend? Does he not want to meet us?" I asked insecurely referring to Auggie and myself.

"Of course he does Riley. He's just been busy travelling the world. He doesn't like to settle down somewhere for too long."

"Why not?" I asked. My dad didn't answer me, but just smiled sadly.

* * *

Maya came over a few hours later to help with the decorations a bit. It was going to be her first time spending Christmas with us because her mom had to work late at the diner. Although Maya claimed it didn't bother her, I knew it did. We went to my room and sat in our 'sacred place' which was beside my bay window.

"So who'd you say was coming over tomorrow?" Maya asked.

"My grandparents, my uncle, my aunt, Mr. Feeny, and my dad's best friend Shawn."

Maya scrutched up her face a little. "How come I've never heard of Shawn?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Well I've never met him either but my dad says it's because he's been busy. But I've heard lots and lots of stories about him." My mind suddenly went back to the many stories my dad had told me about his and Shawn's scheming days.

_"This is when Shawn and I dressed up as girls to write a school article," My dad said showing me a black and white cut-out-of-a-newspaper picture of my dad dressed as a waitress and Shawn dressed like a normal teenage girl. We were sitting at the kitchen table one morning and my dad had found an old box filled with his memories and possesions._

_My mom took a seat next to us once she finished giving us breakfast. "Uh, Cory, what are you doing?"_

_"I'm showing the kids what we did in high school. Ooh!" Dad shrieked as he pulled out another picture of my mom, Shawn, and himself dressed as people who worked in hotels. "This is when we pulled off that Bed 'n Breakfast scheme!" he shouted excitedly._

A loud shriek and gasp coming from the living room woke me up from my daydream. Both Maya and I jumped at the sudden sound. And then, someone came in barging through the door...

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**Author's Note: Ooh, who could that be? Vote for me during December 11-15 on wiki and you'll find out next chapter! :) Sorry it's so short. Rules are rules. Link for info on the contest in my profile.**

**Quote of the week:**

"You have to do the homework, Maya. This teacher's insane. A total nut job. I think there's something seriously wrong with him." **-Riley Matthews**

**-Mimi1239**


	2. An Early Visit

**Hey again! Second chapter for the Girl Meets World Wiki Fanfiction contest. For more info on it, visit my profile if you are interested in voting! Vote for me please! Thanks guys! I'd like to give a shout-out to those who reviewed my previous chapter: KaNugget, lilLaine02, GamerGirlGuest, Nat-Marie, LoveShipper, Ariel, and Broadwaygirl21.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Boy Meets World, or it's spin-off series Girl Meets World.**

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Riley's Point of View

_**Wednesday, December 24th, 2014, New York City**_

_**Present day, 1:00 P.M**_

"Shawnie!" My dad squealed in a high-pitch voice as he and his best friend walked into my room. "Look honey, I'd like you to meet your uncle/godfather and my favorite person in the world!"_  
_

"I heard that!" I could hear my mom say from the kitchen. It was so like my dad to be overly excited about his past.

I stood up from my bench window. "Hi Shawn." I waved awkwardly. _I was twelve years old the first time I met my godfather, Shawn Hunter..._"I'm Riley. My dad's told me a lot of stories about you..." Then I nudged Maya to stand up and I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, much like my dad was doing with Shawn. "This is my best friend, Maya Hart."

"So you're the famous Shawn Mr. Matthews hasn't stopped yapping about," Maya smirked.

"Yeah, I am," he smirked back.

"So what're doing here so early Shawn? You were not supposed to be here until tomorrow. Hey, not that I'm complaining." The grown men chuckled together.

"I wanted to surprise you all. I couldn't wait to see my favorite person in the world and his wife. There's probably going to be a lot of people coming over tomorrow and besides, I wanted to meet your kids," he said smiling at me. I didn't know why, but I felt like with my dad's best friend being here, it was going to change everything.

"So how's the job going Shawn? We've never really talked a lot about that on the phone," Dad asked Shawn.

Shawn shrugged. "It's alright I guess. Haven't been getting many clients lately. But enough about me. How's your job going Cor? Are you the next Feeny yet? Are the kids treating you well?" Shawn teased.

"Well I'm no Feeny yet, but the kids think I'm strict, right?" Maya and I couldn't contain our laughter any longer.

"You, Mr. Matthews? Strict? You let us talk in class whenever we want and when we walk out in the middle of one of your classes, you don't give us detention! Face it Matthews, you're a softy," Maya smirk grew wider.

My dad scoffed. "Okay, so I am not and will never be a Feeny! You happy now Maya?" he threw his arms in the air in defeat.

"You can't lose your edge Cor. You gotta be tough on them, they'll appreciate that even more. That's what I would do," Shawn advised.

"You would?" Maya asked.

Shawn nodded. "Yeah." For a second there, I thought Maya was going to say something back, but she just turned around and left the room.

"Why don't you move back into the city Shawnie? The apartment upstairs is for rent! You can actually be my neighbor!" my dad squealed childishly. Was he always like this before I was born? I assumed he was.

Before answering my dad, Shawn's smile fell off his face when he caught me staring at them talk. "We can talk about that later. So what's for dinner tomorrow?"

* * *

Shawn slept on the couch overnight instead of "wasting money on a hotel room when we had plenty of space for him in the apartment". At least that was the way my dad put it. I got ready and skipped into the kitchen yet again on Christmas morning. Maya was already here, unbeknownst to me until I saw her sitting on the couch with Shawn looking at a book, laughing.

I put my arms behind my back and rocked myself on my feet back and forth. "Hey, Merry Christmas guys. What are you looking at?" I asked curious as to what they were laughing about.

I knew it wasn't intentional, but it stung a little when it looked like they were ignoring me because they didn't respond to my question. When they finally closed the book and looked up to see me, Maya said, "Oh hey Riles. Didn't know you were standing there."

I faked a smile and walked into the kitchen where it looked like my mom was just about to have another mental breakdown. Dad was rubbing Mom's shoulders, trying to keep her sanity in tact.

"Mom?"

"Not now Riley. I'm too busy preparing Christmas dinner honey."

I sighed and sat down at the breakfast table next to Auggie, who was too busy concentrated on his coloring book to even notice I had sat down. I rested my chin on my elbow and closed my eye for a few seconds.

When the door bell rung, Auggie got up eager to answer it.

"Hey Auggie wait," I smiled kneeling myself down to my little brother and held his hand in mine. "Have you noticed anything different since Shawn arrived? I mean, do you feel like Mom and Dad are ignoring you?"

Auggie rolled his eyes and put his hand on my shoulder. "Riley, don't be such a Scrooge. It's Christmas!"

_Was I really a Scrooge? Was I like the man in that famous story who was always so negative around Christmas while everybody else around him were so jolly and happy, even in their poverty situation? _I wondered this to myself as Auggie opened the front door and all of my relatives that I hadn't seen in a really long time walked in...

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**Author's Note: In tradition that I always answer your reviews in Tumblr, I will do that for this story as well. There will only be four chapters to this story because that's the limit for the contest.**

**P.S- Don't forget to check out my profile for the link to the Q&amp;A for last chapter for those who reviewed my previous chapter! And don't forget to vote for chapter 2 on the poll of the main page of Girl Meets World Wiki between December 24th to 29th in order for me to move on to the next round!**

**Quote of the week:**

"Yes, sir, it's us. We hope that one day, one of us will be lucky enough to become the future Mrs. Farkle Minkus and have a lot of baby Minkii." **-Maya Hart**

**-Mimi1239**


	3. Family Reunion

**Third chapter for the Girl Meets World Wiki Fanfiction contest. There will only be one more chapter left after this one that will be in the contest but I was thinking of continuing this story perhaps for six more chapters after the contest even if I don't win. Give me some ideas because I was thinking of including other people's POV such as Cory or Shawn and what they're going through during the holidays and perhaps after. Maybe even during the events of the first chapter of Seven Years in the Nineties or after. I'd like to give a shout-out to those who reviewed my previous chapter: honeylemon975, Ali6132, KaNugget, GamerGirlGuest, and LoveShipper.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Boy Meets World, or it's spin-off series Girl Meets World.**

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Riley's Point of View

_**Thursday, December 25th, 2014, New York City**_

_**Present day, 3:09 P.M**_

Hellos, hugs, and even tears were all that could be seen and heard as all of my relatives entered the apartment. The living room seemed to be getting smaller as each guest past through the door and ran up to hug my parents and Shawn. If you were just an outsider, you could tell they hadn't seen each other in a long time by the way, for example, my grandparents clung themselves to my parents and didn't want to give anybody else a chance to even say hello to them.

"Mom, mom," my dad said as my grandmother squeezed the life out of her son. "I can't breathe!"

My grandmother let go of my dad and started to tear up a little. "I'm sorry Cory. It's just been so long! Why haven't you come and visit?"

"I'm sorry mom," my mom answered. "It's just that the kids go to school. It isn't as easy as it used to be."

"Well, that's why we have to cherish every moment we spend together," my grandfather said. "How are you Shawn?" he asked patting Uncle Shawn on the back.

Uncle Shawn smiled. "I'm doing quite good Mr. Matthews. I have my dream job as a photographer."

A medium-height blonde woman who I assumed was my Aunt Morgan walked in and gasp. "Hey family!" she greeted excitedly as she hugged everybody.

"How are you doing sis?" my dad asked.

"I'm doing great! I just graduated from college last year and I just started working in a hospital as a nurse. We've got a lot of catching up, don't we?"

"Has anybody seen Mr. Feeny?" Uncle Shawn asked, cutting the conversation between the family.

My grandmother answered, "Mr. Feeny said he'd be running a little late. He promised he'd be here just in time for Christmas dinner."

Just then, my crazy Uncle Eric who I heard many crazy stories about came in through the door with a wide smile and went up to my parents.

"Hey Cor and Pangers," Uncle Eric greeted in a teasing manner to my parents.

A wide and forced smile appeared on my mom's face. "Eric, it's nice to see you."

"How'd the job going Eric?" my dad asked my uncle.

Uncle Eric shrugged his shoulders like it were no big deal. "Eh, lately I've been predicting the weather forecast wrong. I mean who would have thought there'd be snow in December? Not me."

My dad gave his brother an odd look. "Everybody but you. Glad you haven't changed one bit bro," Dad patted Uncle Eric on the back and then went to go talk to Uncle Shawn.

A tall boy, about sixteen or seventeen came up to me at the kitchen table just as Maya sat down next to me.

"Hey Riley. Don't you remember me? I'm your Uncle Josh. We used to play together when we were kids." I almost couldn't remember him, until it came into my memory. _Oh right, Uncle Josh._

"Oh, hey," I jumped up and gave him a hug.

"How long has it been? Seven, eight years? How come you've never come to visit?"

I looked hesitantly over at Maya, who couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of my uncle. Maya said, "Yeah Riles. And how come you haven't brought me?" and then she flashed him a smile and winked. _Whoa, where did that come from? I've never seen Maya flirt before! _"I'm Maya, by the way. Riley's best friend." Maya held up her hand for him to shake it.

Josh shook her hand causally, probably having no trouble handling girls who fawned over him. But Maya was much younger than him. That would be so weird!

After shuddering at the thought that Maya could be my aunt if she dated and got married to my uncle, I quickly tried to get the images out of my head. Josh politely excused himself to greet my parents.

Maya waved at him and winked flirtatiously as he walked away. After he did, she went back to her normal self. I couldn't help but stare at her in amazement.

"What?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?" I asked, half joking, half serious.

Maya raised an eyebrow, pretending not to know what I meant. "What are you talking about? I was just being friendly with your uncle."

"_That _was not friendly. That was flirting."

Maya threw her hands in the air in defeat. "Okay, so what if I was flirting?"

"That's not like you Maya. When have you ever flirted with a boy?"

"He's not like anybody I've ever met Riles. I'm sorry to tell you this Riles but it's called growing up," she said smiling sheepishly at me. Then she got up to go talk to Josh while he played with Auggie.

It hit me like a ton of bricks. She was right. We were growing up. That's why this Christmas was different.

I got up from the table and went to grab my tan trench coat at the door. "I'm going out," I announced, but nobody heard me. I mean they were all standing there, but my family was too preoccupied with their discussions to even notice I was leaving. If this had been last year, I was almost sure my mom would have asked where I was going and what time I would be back. But this time, I didn't even get a goodbye. "I'll be back before dinner. I promise." And then I headed out.

* * *

Where to go...where to go. I didn't feel like walking all the way to the bakery, so I just decided to go to the subway station. No surprise, there was Crazy Hat Lady, sitting on the bench, observing people as always.

"Hi Mrs. Rand," I greeted taking a seat next to her. Crazy Hat Lady turned toward me, a little shocked I was there.

"Hello Riley. What are you doing here? It's Christmas, you should be spending it with your family."

I shrugged my shoulders. "It feels like they don't even know I'm there because we have so many guests."

"You should still spend time with them."

I paused for a moment, in realization. "Do you think I should go back?"

"I think it's Christmas and you should be spending it with your family."

"Where's your family? If I may ask." I asked in curiously.

A spark of pain showed in Crazy Hat Lady's eyes. "Well, I don't have any family. Not that I know of anyway. My husband died a long time ago."

"I'm sorry," I apologized immediately.

She chuckled lightly as if I had said something funny. "That's alright Riley. That's why Christmas should be about cherishing the good times you have with your family. Especially those you haven't seen in a long time."

I realized she was right. I got up from the bench. Before I left, I asked, "I don't know what it is about you ma'am, but it seems like you intimidate a lot of people. But you don't try to, right?"

Crazy Hat Lady only smiled. "Right. Merry Christmas Riley."

"Merry Christmas," I replied back, for the first time, feeling enthusiastic about this Christmas. _I will no longer be a Scrooge._

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**Author's Note: So yeah, vote for me in the poll on Girl Meets World Wikia's main page (and if you don't know where that is you can find the link on my profile) between January 7-12 every twelve hours. The winner gets to post their fourth chapter and that concludes the contest. It's all up to you guys! PM if you have any further questions and I'll be happy to answer them :)**

**P.S- Don't forget to check out my profile for the link to the Q&amp;A for last chapter for those who reviewed my previous chapter!**

**Quote of the week:**

"Yeah, how else can he keep tabs on all the hoedowns and cattle pageants?" **-Maya Hart**

**-Mimi1239**


	4. Traditions, Miss Matthews

**I'm not sure if you've heard but I won the Girl Meets World Wikia contest thanks to those of you who voted! So I decided during my hiatus time that I would end this story in this chapter. I promise you more will be explored in Seven Years in the Nineties, however, if there was ever a possibility of reopening up this story, I would do it. I'd like to give a shout-out to those who reviewed my previous chapter: DisneyLover16, Esthernight, and LoveShipper.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Boy Meets World, or it's spin-off series Girl Meets World.**

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Riley's Point of View

**_Thursday, December 25th, New York City_**

**_Present day, 6:45 P.M_**

"Mom?...Dad?" I called out after arriving home from talking to Crazy Hat Lady. When I opened the door, I realized the apartment was empty and everybody had left. I moved myself to the couch and slumped down. _I really did ruin Christmas for myself for not wanting to spend time with my relatives. _I ran my hand through my long brown hair in distress.

I noticed Shawn's photo album sitting on the coffee table and opened it up to the first page. In writing, there was a note written in a blank space in the middle of the page.

_Cory,_

_I realized a few years back that we haven't had a chance to see each other and do stuff like we used to a long time ago when we were kids. I realized we were both drifting apart and that would never happen in the Cory and Shawn show. I started collecting pictures I had received from your parents about us and Topanga, and even went back to my old trailer park and found a big pile of family photos my dad had kept hidden under his bed before he, well you know. Remember that time you came over and found my dad and me sitting on the floor, looking through some of my baby photos? Finally bonding? Well, I thought we could do something to that effect too. The Photo Album Project is now complete and I must say, it's my best work yet._

_Merry Christmas Cornelius A. Matthews._

_From your brother, Shawn Hunter._

I giggled a little despite the sadness I still felt inside. _My dad's name is Cornelius Matthews?_ No wonder he kept it a secret.

Okay, so Maya was ignoring me because she wanted to spend time with Josh. I barely knew my uncles and aunts and even my own grandparents, and the great Mr. Feeny probably thought I was just some snobby kid who left without wanting to meet him. And to top it off, Auggie thought I was a Scrooge.

After the guilt and despair completely overshadowed the slight happiness I felt inside, I heard the front door open and looked up to see every one of my relatives staring down at me.

"Honey, where have you been?" Mom asked, for the first time sounding concern.

I said the first thing that came to mind without thinking about it. "Where have I been? I was talking to the Crazy Hat Lady at the subway while you all probably went out and had a wonderful time, right?"

My dad's jaw dropped. "Riley, we went out looking for you. Your mom finished cooking dinner and we needed you to come home. It's been almost three hours since you left." _Wow, had it really been that long?_

I got up to hug my parents, almost in tears. "I'm so sorry I ruined Christmas."

"Riley, you didn't ruin Christmas. Don't say that," Uncle Shawn said.

I began to hug every one of my relatives, and when I got to Uncle Eric, he was smirking.

"So this is my niche," he said.

"For the last time, it's _niece _Mr. Matthews," a strong British accent was heard behind my uncle. Uncle Eric nodded pretending like he understood, and then motioned that the old British person was probably drunk.

Dad walked up to the small old man with grey hair and thick round glasses and wrapped an arm around him.

"Riley Matthews, this is Mr. Feeny, my teacher and mentor from my whole life." Mr. Feeny smiled at me.

"Wow," I said, astonished. "I've heard so much about you. I didn't think you would show up."

Mr. Feeny furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Why would you think that Miss Matthews?"

"Because I thought you didn't want to meet me. I mean I'm nothing special."

Mr. Feeny smiled warmly. "Miss Matthews, if you're the daughter of Cory Matthews, you are special."

* * *

I learned a lot of things during that dinner. Aunt Morgan was really smart and a really cool aunt. She said she would take me shopping one day. Uncle Eric was so silly and childlike, but you couldn't help but wonder if he was smarter than the rest of us. Uncle Josh, well you know, was trying to avoid Maya as much as possible.

"I live upstairs if you wanna check out my room..." Maya flirted over dinner.

"You are not going to be my aunt!" I exclaimed out loud and apparently everybody found that funny because they couldn't stop laughing after I said that.

My grandparents were still happily married, even after so long. I couldn't help but think my parents were going to be just like them.

* * *

After dinner, as we were opening presents, Uncle Shawn took his photo album and got down on one knee in front of Cory as if he were proposing. I found it hilarious.

"Will you, Cory Matthews, take this photo album and cherish it forever?" Dad gasped.

"Oh Shawnie!" he exclaimed getting into a bear hug with his best friend.

"I want a divorce!" Mom said jokingly, also clearly amused by this act.

Mr. Feeny pulled out _A Christmas Carol_.

"And now my favorite part of the holidays, a Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens," he announced opening the old book to page one.

As we all sat down around the living room, an idea popped into my head.

"Mr. Feeny? May I read the story?" I asked.

A shocked expression appeared on Mr. Feeny's face. "Traditions, Miss Matthews. I used to read this to the Matthews every year."

"Well, maybe it's time for a new change," Dad suggested.

"Alright," Mr. Feeny agreed, handing me the book. "Here's for the new generation."

* * *

Everybody was almost asleep by the time I finished reading.

"We need to take the family picture!" I said. "It's a tradition, right?"

"Indeed it is, Miss Matthews," Mr. Feeny smiled proudly.

"And my favorite one too," Uncle Shawn included. We all positioned ourselves on the couch, in front of the big Christmas tree. Uncle Shawn set up the camera and then moved quickly to us in order to be included in the picture. "Smile! This one's going in the album."

I was sitting next to Auggie and Maya. "Am I still a Scrooge Auggie?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "Mmm, not anymore."

"Thanks," I said happily before smiling into the camera.

* * *

**Author's Note: Chapter 20 of Seven Years in the Nineties will be posted on Sunday, February 1st, 2015. Remember that! First day at John Adams can be tough, especially for the duo Riley and Maya. Trust me, it gets worse when Harley appears ;) So yeah, thank you for everything guys. Remember to take on the world!**

**P.S- Don't forget to check out my profile for the link to the Q&amp;A for last chapter for those who reviewed my previous chapter! ALSO, I'm adding a new element to Seven Years in the Nineties. Check out the Bitstrip Comic Strips I created for each chapter! (Still in the works) and tell me what you think! (Also linked to my profile)**

**Quote of the week:**

"With all due to respect to history, Mr. Matthews, what's important to our generation will be on this side of the timeline. When technology and Farkle rule." **-Farkle Minkus**

**-Mimi1239**


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